Analysis: After winning American League MVP honors and signing the richest contract in franchise history, Jose Altuve endured his least productive season since 2013.

It sounds worse than it actually was. Altuve still hit over .310, OPSed over .850 and coaxed nearly as many walks (55) as he did last season (58) — while getting 63 fewer plate appearances.

His first half of the season was vintage — an .865 OPS and 129 hits. Altuve was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game, where he started at second base and notched his first hit in the Midsummer Classic.

A path to a fifth straight season of at least 200 hits was clear. So, too, was the possibility of a third straight batting title. The honors so customary for Altuve were made impossible by a foreign occurrence.

In July, Altuve went on the disabled list for the first time in his eight-year major league career. The club termed the ailment "right knee discomfort" and, to this day, has never revealed what caused the injury or what specifically it was.

The "discomfort" morphed into a season-derailing, serious injury which became too much to bear during the playoffs. Altuve could not move laterally and rounded the bases with noticeable pain.

He was forced to DH the final three games of the ALCS — all losses. A day after the season ended, Altuve required surgery, an ominous end to a derailed season.

Any surgery for any player leaves lingering concern into the winer. The Astros do expect Altuve to be completely healthy for spring training. But because this is Altuve's first ever major injury, naturally there is more heightened concern for the face of a franchise.

Best Moment: Altuve remained one of the cornerstones of an inconsistent lineup despite not meeting the lofty standards he sets for himself. His droughts were often snapped stunningly.

Take, for example, late May, when he went hitless in 12 straight plate appearances. Altuve hit safely in his next 10 in a row, most coming during a four-game series in Cleveland, re-establishing his own franchise record.

Chandler Rome joined the Houston Chronicle in 2018 to cover the Astros after spending one year in Tuscaloosa covering Alabama football — during which Nick Saban asked if he attended college. He did, at LSU, where he covered the Tigers baseball team for nearly four years. He covered most of the Astros' 2015 playoff run, too, as an intern for MLB.com